Our research into new technologies

Help beat cancer sooner

Our research is saving lives

Our research is finding ways to use new technologies that could change the way patients are treated in the future. From virtual reality to machine learning, our researchers are using exciting techniques to beat cancer.

Current researchers

Combining scans and surgery

Professor Freddie Hamdy is a prostate cancer surgeon and researcher in Oxford. He’s testing if new fluorescence and imaging techniques could be used to improve treatment for the disease. The aim is to see if using these techniques before and during surgery can help doctors determine if a tumour is within the prostate, or if it has spread. This could help doctors ensure no tumour is left behind and prevent the cancer returning.

Professor Zoltan Takats in London is testing whether an ‘intelligent knife’ (known as iKnife) can tell the difference between normal and cancerous cells during breast cancer surgery. This could help surgeons remove all traces of the tumour more accurately than current surgical techniques allow.

Professor Josephine Bunch and her team at the National Physical Laboratory are developing new technologies to map tumours in unprecedented detail – from the whole tumour to the individual molecules in cells. The work could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat cancer.

Dr Sarah Bohndiek and her team in Cambridge are developing specialised cameras that could one day detect early warning signs of oesophageal cancer. “People who are at a high risk of developing oesophageal cancer, such as those with Barrett’s oesophagus, could be closely monitored with this technique,” says Bohndiek.

Professor Greg Hannon in Cambridge is building 3D tumours containing every cell in them, which can be studied using virtual reality. This new way of studying breast cancer could change how the disease is diagnosed, treated and managed.

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Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666) and the Isle of Man (1103). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: Angel Building, 407 St John Street, London EC1V 4AD.